The phone call came from Italy. You have no idea what to do next.
Someone you love has died in Italy — and within hours, you're facing deadlines in a language you don't speak, bank accounts that just went dark, and a legal system that works nothing like the one back home.
Italian law doesn't wait for you to grieve. The death must be registered at the Comune within 24 hours. Banks freeze every account the moment they're notified. And since 2025, you — not the tax office — must calculate and pay the inheritance tax yourself, or face penalties that compound daily from the date of death.
Law firms in Italy quote €3,000+ for succession work. Government websites give you lists, not answers. Expat forums are full of outdated advice from people who got burned by it.
The Italian Succession Navigator
This is a 16-chapter, sequence-driven emergency guide built for English speakers who need to act now and can't afford a single wrong step. It translates every Italian bureaucratic requirement into plain-English instructions — what to do, in what order, with which documents, at which office — so you can protect the estate, meet every legal deadline, and keep thousands in potential penalties from ever reaching your door.
What's Inside
- The 24-Hour Emergency Protocol — exactly who to call, what forms to collect, and how to register the death at the Comune before the legal window closes
- Bank Freeze Playbook — how Italian banks lock accounts after death (joint and individual), what documents unfreeze them, and why withdrawing cash beforehand is a criminal offense that also locks you into the inheritance
- 2025 Self-Assessment Tax Guide — the inheritance tax reform means you calculate what you owe, file the Dichiarazione di Successione within 12 months, and pay within 90 days of filing. This chapter walks you through the rates, the valore catastale property formula, and the relief rules most families miss
- Forced Heirship Navigator — Italian law reserves mandatory shares for spouses, civil partners, and children regardless of what the will says. A 2025 Supreme Court decision confirmed this overrides foreign wills and trusts for Italian real estate. The guide maps your family composition to the exact percentages
- Accept or Renounce Decider — in Italy, accepting an inheritance means accepting the debts. This chapter explains accettazione con beneficio d'inventario (acceptance with benefit of inventory), the 3-month inventory deadline, and why filing taxes does not count as acceptance under the 2025 Supreme Court ruling
- Remote Management Playbook — bilingual Power of Attorney templates, instructions for obtaining your Italian tax code (codice fiscale) from a consulate, and step-by-step guides for managing the entire process from the US, UK, Canada, or Australia without traveling to Italy
- Brussels IV Framework — when the deceased lived in Italy but held citizenship elsewhere, EU Regulation 650/2012 determines which country's inheritance law applies. This chapter explains how a choice-of-law clause changes everything — and what happens without one
- Property and Vehicle Transfers — the voltura catastale must be filed within 30 days of the succession declaration, and vehicle transfers carry fines up to €3,526 if missed. Step-by-step instructions and document lists for both
- Contact Directory and Document Checklists — embassy phone numbers, consulate addresses, form names in Italian and English, and the complete list of documents you need at every stage
10 Standalone Printable Tools
Every key section is also extracted as a standalone PDF you can print and bring to the office, bank, or notary where you need it:
- 24-Hour Emergency Protocol — carry to the Comune and hospital
- Bank Freeze Playbook — bring to bank meetings
- Tax Self-Assessment Worksheet — fill in with your accountant
- Forced Heirship Navigator — map your family's shares at the notary
- Accept or Renounce Decider — decision guide for debt protection
- Remote Management Checklist — for heirs managing from abroad
- Document Checklist — every document with its Italian name and filing office
- Contact Directory — institutional contacts and embassy numbers
- Deadlines Timeline — every legal deadline on a fillable calendar
- Fees Quick Reference — all costs at every stage
Who This Guide Is For
- English-speaking expats living in Italy whose spouse, partner, or parent has died
- Adult children in the US, UK, Canada, or Australia managing a parent's Italian estate from abroad
- Families of tourists or travelers who died during a trip to Italy
- Executors, estate attorneys, or HR departments handling a cross-border Italian case for the first time
Why Not Just Search for Free Information?
You could piece it together. Government sites give you the rules in Italian legalese. Consulates hand you a list of funeral homes and a disclaimer. Forum posts share personal stories that may or may not reflect current law — and the 2025 tax reforms changed the fundamental mechanics of how inheritance tax is calculated and paid.
The cost of getting one step wrong is concrete: late-filing penalties start at 1.5% of the total tax due and climb to 5%, compounding daily. An unauthorized bank withdrawal before notifying the bank is a criminal offense. Missing the 30-day property transfer window triggers separate fines. And accepting an inheritance you should have renounced means the deceased's debts become yours.
This guide puts every step, every deadline, and every document in the right order — so you don't discover a mistake six months later when it's too expensive to fix.
The Free Checklist Shows You What. The Full Guide Shows You How.
Download the free Death in Italy — Expat Emergency Checklist to get a printable, time-sequenced overview of every critical step. When you're ready for the chapter-by-chapter instructions, bilingual templates, tax calculations, and decision tools, the full guide is waiting.
Includes the free checklist plus the complete 16-chapter guide with all worksheets and templates. Instant PDF download — use it on your phone, tablet, or laptop.